[ZaktheLad]

After the recent post relating to rare breeds and sheep prices in general both commercial and pedigree stock, I thought I would share an interesting email I had this morning.  I have 4 whether lambs born April 2012 advertised on another website in a bid to sell them privately before they go to Sedgemoor market in a few weeks time.  I have always check on the weekly market prices and advertised the 4 @ £65 each.  I had an email asking if they were still available (to which I responded yes, they were) and then I had a reply asking if I would accept £35 each!    Now, I know prices are not up in high £80/90 per lamb, but I was slightly miffed by that offer!  My swift response was: you are joking?!  Certainly not -sorry.

Interestingly, I note prices rose slightly this week for store lambs with many making nearer £70 per head.  In-lamb ewes were again virtually impossible to sell at £33, but ewes with lambs were much in demanding at circa £200.  Cade/orphan lambs reached £35!

I am certainly not going to give my 4 boys away for £35 each, although 20 years ago this was more likely the price they would have fetched (I sold 4 smashing ewe lambs at Chippenham market for £35 each about that many years ago).   

My post doesn't really have a point as such, except that it is interesting to see what other people (such as said emailer) consider a reasonable offer to make, for what I consider a smart looking whether - photo attached.   Whilst I understand animals are only worth what someone is prepared to pay, there are some offers that are plain insulting! 

[Gunnermark]

Makes me laugh people wanting something for nothing! Obviously they thought you didn't know the true value and thought they would be getting a bargain! Cracking pic by the way!

[ShaunP]

It also depends on what the purchaser is going to do with them. If they are local and just want some lawn mowers then £65 is probably quite reasonable. If they want to fatten for themselves, allow for some fuel costs and then the butchering and £65 might feel a bit steep!!!!!!!

[twizzel]

Just reading the market report for a market in Devon- week old orphan lambs were going for £35 each!

[Hillview Farm]

Out of interest, What breed is he?

[zarzar]

Hi we brought 6 store lambs from sedgemoor in decemeber and only paid £29 a head they should be ready around march/april.Think people are being wary of in lamb ewes due to the smallenburg virus.

[ZaktheLad]

Out of interest, What breed is he?

He's a charollais/texel x suffolk.

[MarvinH]

[quote
Interestingly, I note prices rose slightly this week for store lambs with many making nearer £70 per head]
What mart was that?
Bet the farmer that sold them was laughing all the way to the leeds,my local market selling at £28 head[/quote]

[ZaktheLad]

Sedgemoor market.  It does depend on the quality of what's for sale - I am sure not all the store lambs made near the £70 mark, but I wasn't there on Saturday to see what was on offer.  Having been many times though the quality varies greatly.  People will also pay more for lambs that have been dagged etc prior to sale rather than some pens of sheep that have filthy behinds!  It all make a difference at the end of the day.  You get back what you are prepared to put in. 

[moony]

Store lambs are no where near the £70 mark around here. Decent texel stores are averaging £40-45 at the moment. The price of cades is just silly at present. By the time you have raised them there is no profit margin whatsoever. Gone are the days when farmers would give them away. I also cant really grasp how Ewes with twins are £200 when similar ewes scanned to twins are £70-80 as they were at our local mart this weekend. I know if I had enough land I would be whipping a few inlamb ewes up at the moment.

[Victorian Farmer]

i never let a deal get away ,Whot i would say is give me a fare price and that would be it ,The next time you would no Whit to pay

[thenovice]

IM BACK!  . Told you £40 quid for an in lamb full mouthed ewe wasnt made up! Prices are dropping, for all ages/sexes. Its gonna hit the pedigree flocks too

[SteveHants]

Decent lambs still making £60 at Salisbury - cull ewes not doing too badly either.

[ZaktheLad]

The Monday market at Sedgemoor showed a vast improvement in lamb/hogg prices - as it says in their report below, the best types are keenly sought at the moment with top sale price being £100:-
"A larger entry of 1326 Hoggs sold to a much improved trade for all forward, nearly 20ppk and £7/head dearer than last Monday. A Suffolk ram lamb from Mr AR Henson topped both the pence per kilo and pounds per head at 172ppk and £100. The best others were keenly contested and sold to 171ppk and 167ppk"

The overall average was £66.20 with small 35kg weights trading at £57.20.  43kg lambs going at £70.  I think that's a very good price compared to recent market prices.

When I sell my lambs I aim to be in the top section of the market.  I check the market prices without fail each Monday on publication and I know more or less where any I intend are likely to fit in the price scale.  I don't send any that I don't think will reach the top end of the market but keep them back for a while longer.  I will not send a smart pen of lambs and then put a smaller, lesser quality lamb in with them, as this will bring the price down.  I also dag/tidy up all my lambs prior to sale and always keep them inside the night prior to sale day, so they are clean and dry.  Wet, dirty lambs never look good.    I only have a very small flock of commercial sheep (21 at the moment but including some excess whethers), and only send a maximum of 6 animals once or twice a year, but I have always been able to make the market report with my lambs when I send them and have taken top price on 3 occasions.   I put in time and effort with my lambs so they go to market looking the best they can - I am not prepared to give them away by sending the same lambs in lesser condition/appearance and thus losing buyer interest, just because I couldn't be bothered to put in a bit of work.   Even when prices are high, you will always get those commercial sheep that make the £30 or less mark, but this is because they are poorer quality - not up to weight, sent with brambles stuck over them, filthy dirty or missing chunks of fleece - sorry, but I would be highly embarrassed to send some of the sheep I have seen at markets, with many bordering on cruelty/neglect.     At Sedgemoor market, it is usually the same buyers who purchase all the pens of store lambs/cull ewes and they will pay good money for a decent animal if they have to.   

[SteveHants]

I, on the other hand know I will never make top prices with my grass-finished Wilts x Lleyn woolshedders.


I rely on the fact that my margins are better than people who pay for cake. 


Profit = Price at market - Cost of production.